UPDATE: Power still out to 200 following ice storms in Fraser Valley

BC Hydro repair crews say fewer than 200 customers remained without power early Tuesday, five days after ice storms cut electricity to thousands of homes and businesses in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley.

The BC Hydro website says 62 outages affecting 187 customers still remain, a dramatic improvement from the 3,000 customers who were without electricity at midday Monday.

Hydro says some new outages are still occurring and restoration efforts continue in the north Mission, northeast Langley and Abbotsford areas.

Crews were not expected to reach some of the trouble spots until later in the day, but the utility’s website says the lights could be back on in other pockets within hours.

Abbotsford, Mission and Chilliwack were among the hardest-hit areas when ice storms struck Thursday and Friday, snapping tree branches, downing power lines and leaving some BC Hydro substations frozen solid, with sensitive equipment encased in ice.

Environment Canada did not post any weather alerts Tuesday and is forecasting temperatures as high as 7 C by the end of the week.

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ORIGINAL: JAN. 1

About 3,000 people are still without power as crews worked to restore electricity after ice storms swept through British Columbia’s Fraser Valley.

BC Hydro spokeswoman Tanya Fish said teams have been working around the clock and have restored electricity for more than 100,000 people since the first storm hit on Thursday, but about 3,000 others were still without power by Monday morning.

Another storm came Friday, leaving the region coated in thick layers of ice, which snapped tree branches and downed power lines.

Some BC Hydro substations were also frozen solid, with sensitive equipment encased in ice.

Fish says crews finished repairs to the substations Saturday night using equipment like propane torches to melt the ice.